How to create a gossip: Niou and Yukimura style
by eunjus2
Summary: Rikkai! Niou and Yukimura. Misunderstandings happens. Sanada nosebleeds.
1. Chapter 1

"Alright everyone, finish your laps! Regulars go to the C and D-courts!" Rikkai's buchou yelled.

It was a really hot summer day and the regulars all groaned aloud. Yagyuu, the bastard, had gone to his grandparent's house in the north of Japan where the weather wasn't as hot.

Niou bounced the ball a few times before serving. He absolutely hated practice in hot weather and he really hated to play against Akaya. Their kouhai scared all the non-regulars and frightened the first-years in the tennis club to death.

"Ha! That's piece o' cake!" Kirihara yelled as he returned the ball. They shot a couple of balls each across the court before Niou decided to try something new he and Yagyuu had been practicing lately: Seigaku's Tezuka's "Tezuka Phantom" which caused all the balls to go out of bounds.

"Take this, brat!" Niou grunted as he hit the ball. After all he wasn't called the trickster of Rikkai for nothing!

"That one is going out", Yanagi, who stood on the sideline, casually mentioned as Akaya hit the ball. And it did.

Unfortunately, a first-year who was standing in the way of the ball decided to show off. He hit the ball with all the strength he could muster as it came flying towards him. The ball was still affected by the "Tezuka Phantom" that Niou had hit and didn't bounce back onto the court.

Instead the ball flew in a wide bow away from the courts.

And it hit Yukimura in the side of the head.

A lot of screaming, panicking and gathering of the regulars followed, except for Kirihara who was chasing the poor first-year around the courts. Jackal had to prevent the rest of the tennis team from rushing to Yukimura's aid, something that wouldn't have been the least helpful since Yanagi already was doing just that.

"It seems he's just unconscious" Yanagi said and there was a collective sigh of relief from the whole team. "The ball wasn't hit very hard so he'll probably only have headache when he awakes. Let's take him to the infirmary."

"Alright everyone back to practice!" Sanada roared in an attempt to divert the other's eyes from Yukimura and his own soon-to-be-tear-filled eyes.

"I'll take Yukimura to the infirmary then" Niou said and bent down to pick their buchou up.

"Wh-what're you doing?!" Marui exclaimed, almost swallowing his gum.

"Piggyback?" Niou raised an eyebrow.

"Oh…" the redhead had a slight blush.

"Just what did you think?"

"Nothing…" Marui looked away, trying to hide the blush.

"You didn't really think I'd carry him bridal style, did you?"

"…no"

"But more importantly, why d'you think you'll be excused from practice?" Yanagi said. "Jackal is stronger, he should carry Yukimura. And there's a high percentage you'll be diverted on the way to the infirmary."

"Well my doubles partner is absent, for one. It's pretty hard to have our Kantou finals' D1 practicing for the nationals, if one half is missing, right?"

"You're aware that the two of you might not be playing in the Nationals finals as D1 Niou?"

The trickster didn't answer. Instead, he arranged Yukimura's legs on each side of his waist and the boy's arms around the neck. He stood up, slightly hunched so that his buchou wouldn't fall backwards.

"Grab my stuff when you're heading back to class will ya" he said as he slowly walked towards the school buildings.

Why wouldn't he and Yagyuu be playing doubles? Hell, he'd be sure to force an answer out of Yukimura when he woke up!

At least it was cooler indoors. Upon arriving to the infirmary Niou carefully bent down and dropped Yukimura onto the floor. He then proceeded to open the door to the infirmary. It was empty. And so was the corridor.

_Guess carrying him bridal style will be the fastest way_, Niou thought. He lifted his captain and walked into the empty but up-lit room, closing the door with a swift kick. God bless the air conditioner, the room was wonderfully cool!

"Masaharu…?" A pair of blue eyes looked up at him.

Yukimura's voice broke the silence _and_ managed to scare the shit out of Niou!

"Just a sec, buchou" he said, half-running towards the bed standing in the upper corner of the room. _Don't blush don't blush don't blush!!_

The timing sure could've been better, why'd Yukimura have to wake up right now as Niou was carrying him like… like some kind of girl?! Oh he could already smell the laps he'd be running for doing this! He quickly dropped Yukimura on the bed.

"There! So sorry for that Yukimura but it was the fastest way to reach the bed and my back was _killing_me, have you gained weight lately-"

"Oh… ok. Was I hit by a ball and fainted and then you carried me here?" Yukimura guessed.

"Uh yeah… how'd you know?"

"It happened once when I was little. I couldn't remember what had happened back then, either."

The only sound heard was the air conditioner.

"Uh… there's something I've been thinking of" Niou suddenly said. "Yanagi mentioned that I and Yagyuu wouldn't be playing as doubles1 in the Nationals' finals…"

"That's right. We were thinking of letting one of you play singles in the semifinals and the other as singles2 in the finals."

More silence, while Niou's mind worked at what he'd just heard. Yukimura just sat on the bed, smiling.

"So… who'll be playing as singles2 in the finals?"

"Well, we haven't actually decided that yet."

"…. You wanna play a game with me, Yukimura?"

"What kind of game?"

"Thumb-wrestling... and if I win you'll let me play as singles2 in the finals." Niou sat down on the bed and leaned back.

"It's a deal. But isn't this quite mean to Hiroshi since he's not here today?"

"_You're_ one who's being mean, you agreed to play with me already!"

"True. Let's get started."

"Best of three wins!"

Niou pushed himself up with one hand in order to straighten up. By doing so his hand accidentally flipped the ON button to the speakers used by the nurse when calling students in.

And the following was called out in the hall and classrooms of Rikkai.

"... What do you think you're doing Masaharu?"

"What does it look like buchou? I'm pinning you down."

"Please let go of me, it hurts. You don't have to be so rough."

"Sorry Yukimura-buchou." Second round begins, which, of course the listening students couldn't possibly know.

"Hey buchou, you're pretty good at this. Have you been practicing or something?"

"Well, Sanada and I used to do this a lot when I was in the hospital."

By now practice had ended and the regulars hade made their way into the school buildings. And they all froze dead on the spot as Yukimura's voice streamed out of the speakers.

Sanada's face turned into a bright red shade and Marui's gum fell out of his wide-open mouth. Jackal's hands were covering Kirihara's ears and Yanagi's eyes were... open.

"I see", Niou's voice was heard. "And who usually came out on top then?"

"It was actually me. Sanada's such a push-over." Yukimura swiftly caught Niou's thumb with his own and shot the trickster a sly smile.

"Augh! How'd you do that?"

"What, you don't like being in the bottom? You know, Sanada never complied even once."

"Shouldn't you call him Genichirou? And was that literally or figuratively speaking? I bet I'm still better than him at this."

Now the regulars were all staring at Sanada, who looked as if he was ready to faint. And the third round had now begun.

"Dammit", Niou said. "Wait a minute… let me take off my jacket!" He threw the jacket towards the desk, where it landed and hit the OFF button. "OK, now we're on!"

"You think you'll win just by taking off your jacket?" Yukimura said, looking slightly amused.

"No… I'll win by doing _this_."

Niou threw himself forward, tackling Yukimura who fell backwards with a yelp, and at the same time Niou pinned the other boy's thumb with his own.

"Heh. Looks like I'll be playing singles2 in the finals eh, buchou?" Niou smirked, wiggling his thumb over Yukimura's.

"Ow… that's cheating! And you're heavy Masaharu. Get off me this instant!"

"Aw... you don't like being in the bottom buchou?" the trickster snickered. Suddenly he caught a movement in the corner of his eye.

"Oh… hi guys. When'd you get here? Uh… is something wrong?"

"Genichirou… why, your nose is bleeding!"

Yanagi was the first who managed to make a human sound. "Seiichi… Niou… we'll be leaving the two of you alone. Jackal, please carry Genichirou.

And the door was slammed shut.

"… just what was that about?"

**Next day**

Niou was stuffing his bag into his locker in order to go to morning practice when he got an unpleasant feeling. He turned around and met… Yagyuu. Whose face was inches from his own.

"Hi Hiroshi! Did you have fun at your grandparent's place?"

"The whole school…" Yagyuu wheezed between clenched teeth. "The whole school is talking about it, Niou-kun!"

"Wha-? Oh…! Sorry, I was gonna tell you I'm playing as singles2 in the finals! I _swear_ I was! It just slipped my mind!"

"… You're playing singles2 in the finals?"

"Uh… so that wasn't what you meant, was it?"

"You mean there's _more?!_" the gentleman screamed in a very un-gentlemanlike way. His face had by now turned into an unhealthy shade of reddish purple.

The tension was broken by the unsuspecting pair of Kirihara and Marui who entered the clubroom. Niou took this as his cue to dive under Yagyuu's legs and get the hell out of there – he had to find Yukimura. And then, the two of them could clear this mess up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone!**

**Thank you so much for the reviews, they really made my day! Continue reviewing as much as you want! **

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Niou ran away from the school gates as fast as his legs would carry him, still in his regulars' uniform. A quick talk with Yanagi had informed him that Yukimura had received a light concussion and was kept at home against his will.

The Yukimuras didn't live very far from school and Niou got there relatively fast. At least he didn't have to hear the whispers from passing students who were already arriving at school, nor did he have to face any giggling girls.

And why the hell did everyone seem to think he and Yukimura had… done something in the infirmary?! He admitted that the scene their fellow regulars met as they entered the infirmary could've been somewhat easy to misunderstand but…

Anyway, now wasn't the time to think of that. He was almost running out of breath and there was no way he'd run any laps when he got back to school.

The Yukimura residence was big, and it came with a beautiful garden. Not very, surprising though as their buchou was known to like gardening. And you often don't fancy playing with flowers in your spare time if you've grow up in an apartment complex.

Speak of the devil… Niou spotted his buchou on the doorstep, dressed in the yellow tennis uniform and with his tennis bag slung over his shoulder.

"Hey there, buchou!" Niou called out. "Yanagi told me you were locked up at home by your mum."

"I was", Yukimura said, making a grimace. "But she had to visit a relative so I figured I should make use of this wonderful opportunity to go to morning practice. And school. And afternoon practice as well."

He locked the door and put the key in his school bag before walking towards the school gates. Niou followed, trying to keep the same pace.

"Uh… maybe you shouldn't… there was some strange gossip in school this morning…"

"Such as?" Yukimura didn't slow down the pace, nor did he look at Niou while talking to him.

"Such as… us… doing things in the infirmary?"

Yukimura stopped. And he slowly turned around to face Niou.

"What do you mean by 'us doing things in the infirmary'? Niou?" he said his about voice as warm and pleasant as the wind in the Arctic sea.

"It seems like somehow, the whole school thinks we did something in the infirmary!" Niou yelled, unable to keep his cool anymore. "I don't know_ why_ or _how_ or _whatever!_ But I won't go back until we've solved this- this stupid mess! Yagyuu looked like he wanted to kill me and it_ wasn't_ because of me playing singles!"

"Oh my…" was all Yukimura said.

"Is that all you can say about this?!"

"No- no, I meant as in I think that's my mother coming out of that bus! Quick, hide!" he hissed, throwing himself over a nearby hedge in order to hide and at the same time pushing Niou with him.

They lay in someone else's garden for about five minutes. Niou's back hurt from the fall and he was sure an old lady peeked out from behind a curtain in the house.

"If I were buchou I'd let you run laps for that!" he grumbled, but Yukimura didn't answer since he was too busy to peek over the hedge.

"I think the coast is clear", he announced, relieved. "It wasn't my mother after all."

Niou was just about to answer with a word that would've sent him running laps for the rest of the day, when the old lady decided to start the garden's sprinklers.

"AAARGH!!" Niou screamed, and shot out of the hedge like a bullet. He shook his head like a wet dog.

"C-c-cold!" Yukimura groaned, hugging himself as he emerged from out the hedge.

Lucky for them, it was a hot day. But even so you _can_ catch a cold by wearing thoroughly cold and wet tennis uniforms during a hot summer day.

"Let's go back to my house. I've got a spare tennis uniform in my room. We can share."

"Wait… you've got a _spare _uniform? Why d'you have a spare one?" Niou exclaimed, before he could stop himself. And the look his captain gave him, told him the exact thing: because he was _Yukimura_. 

They went back to the Yukimura residence, where they took off their wet shoes, and the climbed the stairs to the captain's room. Which was bright and very tidy and it was also filled with all sorts of books and tennis-related things one could imagine. On the walls hung photos of the teams that had won the nationals two years prior.

Niou wondered what he'd expected, really. Like, what if he'd been met with a very untidy room, or one without any sign of something tennis related?

"You can take the shorts and the jacket, and I'll take the pants and shirt" Yukimura said and threw Niou a white t-shirt to wear under the regulars' jacket."

"Just curious, but why am I getting the shorts?"

"To show off your girly legs" Yukimura said, eyes twinkling. Niou didn't have time to retort since the other boy shut the bathroom door to change and to dry his hair. Niou just shrugged and changed into the uniform. They had the same size so the clothes fit as if they'd been his own.

He was just about to zip the jacket, when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" he shouted and rushed down the stairs to open the door. Outside stood Yanagi and Sanada, and both boy's eyes were fixed on his torso the instant Niou opened the door.

"Why are you wearing Seiichi's shirt?!" both of them exclaimed before Niou could say anything. He looked down on the shirt; it was just plain white so how the hell could they know he was wearing Yukimura's shirt?!

Yukimura chose the exact moment to descend the stairs.

"Hi Genichirou, Renji" he said, smiling at them. He then turned to Niou. "I put your clothes in the laundry basket together with mine. And my sheets too but they needed changing anyway. Did you-"

The door in front of them slammed shut in front of them as Sanada and Renji apparently left.

"-throw your clothes on the bed? My sheets were all wet..." Yukimura's voice slowly faded away.

"I think they came over to see how you were doing" Niou guessed. He could feel the beginning of a headache building up.

"… maybe we should catch up with them and try to explain the situation. They're both very good at misunderstanding things."

"Yeah…"

**FINI**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone! Author eunjus2 here! Thnx for the reviews, they feed my mailbox and make me much happier!**

**Again I made a (too) long story which I split up into two parts!**

**Enjoy and don't forget to review!**

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"Haha! Now I only have Yagyuu-senpai and Yanagi-senpai left to beat and then I'll be going straight to the Finals!" Kirihara laughed as he walked beside Jackal in the schoolyard. "Piece of cake!"

It was the beginning of a new, glorious day at Rikkai and the previous night Kirihara had managed to clobber Jackal big-time. The wall versus the demon… does that give you a clue of who might've won? Oh glorious morning indeed.

"If ya don't watch it we'll be taking our righteous revenge at you behind the lockers after practice!" Pop. Marui was still sporting a nice, purple black-eye.

"I'd like to see you try fatty-senpai!"

"Akaya! Respect your senpai or you'll be running laps until your legs fall off!"

Kirihara winced. Sanada-fukubuchou's voice travelled a little too easy over the schoolyard. Many of the students arriving to school quickly turned their heads towards the source of the voice. Which they would've done anyway since Sanada arrived together with Yukimura and Yanagi.

And Yukimura, especially when together with Sanada and Yanagi, would be the closest to a deity that Rikkai would ever have. But lately, his image as an angel outside the courts had gotten stained.

And the reason for it was pushing his way through the crowd as we speak… er, I mean read.

Niou Masaharu, the boy who was called the Trickster of the courts. And he was acting it outside of the courts too, to the despair of his surroundings.

Yagyuu had already arrived to school and was now waiting for his (former) doubles-partner at the entrance. He noticed the other boy had forgotten to button his shirt. Again, and he had also forgotten to brush his hair.

As Niou walked up to him and spoke Yagyuu noted a little more satisfied, that his friend at least had remembered to brush his teeth.

"Good morning Niou-kun" Yagyuu greeted.

"Morning…" Niou yawned and rubbed his eyes. "And Hiroshi, please don't say anything about my tie cuz it's just too early to-"

"What… happened to your tie, Niou-kun?"

And Niou was just about to answer when Yukimura passed by. And the captain gave him the Glare of the Century.

"Uh… Nothing. Nothing happened to my tie" Niou quickly said.

----

**FLASHBACK**

-

Niou jogged over to Yukimura's house. It was past five p.m. and school was over a long time ago. For Niou, school hadn't even begun that day because he had overslept – courtesy of Yukimura who'd called him in the middle of the night, screaming in his ear that they'd '_sort this damn mess up and explain it all to Renji and Genichirou_' before morning practice.

Morning practice, which happened to start at the _ungodly_ hour of six o'clock in the morning. Because of the upcoming Nationals, or at least that was Yukimura's excuse. Niou suspected their captain had planned it like that just to be able to torture them.

So when he _accidentally_ overslept and then had to call to excuse himself while Yukimura was_in class_… well, Niou had the choice of coming over to Yukimura's house after school or lose his spot on the Regulars.

"You're lucky neither Genichirou nor Renji went to practice today" Yukimura snapped as soon as he threw the front door open. "Otherwise you would've been dragged back to the courts and run laps until you fainted!"

"Uh… why do they get to skip practice and I don't?"

"For your information, Renji's been training with Akaya at another court outside of school and Genichirou…"

"What_ about_ 'Genichirou'?"

"…That damn first-year hit him in the head with a ball so I excused him from practice. And I made the first-year run your laps."

Niou snickered. But stopped when he caught the look on Yukimura's face.

"Don't you dare" the captain hissed. "I've had another of those calls from a worried teacher, and I was only lucky my parent's weren't at home."

"Can I come in?" Niou wondered. "The neighbors might get suspicious if we do all the talking on your doorstep…"

Yukimura stepped aside and let the other boy in. That's when Niou noticed that Yukimura was still wearing his school uniform. And Yukimura realized that Niou wasn't.

"Where's your uniform?" he said.

"At home?"

"But you're supposed to have come over here directly from school! Or at least that's what Renji and Genichirou are thinking and they're both coming over here in half an hour!"

"Well, just tell'em I overslept because our crazy buchou had to call me in the middle of the night to talk about his problems!" Niou exclaimed.

"No way!" Yukimura snapped, and started shoving Niou towards the stairs leading to his bedroom on the second floor. "We're gonna look as perfectly normal as possible – I don't want _anything_ to differ from the ordinary when we do this!"

Yukimura forcibly dragged Niou into his room and rummaged around in the closet until he found an extra set of pants and a shirt which he threw to Niou.

"I don't have a spare tie though" Yukimura said thoughtfully.

"I think this'll do great" Niou sighed, and turned to leave.

"Wait! Where're you going?"

"The little girls' room?"

Niou wasn't entirely sure why he put up with their buchou any longer. Except for the fact that the fragile-looking boy could beat the hell out of anyone on the courts, and that Sanada probably could do the same for their captain_outside_ the courts.

"Oh… sorry. Go on."

When Niou had gone to the bathroom, Yukimura went downstairs to the living room and lay down on the sofa with a heavy sigh. If he was lucky, they'd explain everything to his best friends, and then it would only be a matter of time before the problem had solved itself.

Which meant no more odd phone calls from worrying teachers, something he'd had to hide from his parents and little sister. And no more blushing girls wishing him and Niou luck in the corridors.

And especially no Sanada or Yanagi who'd try to give him 'the Talk' or trying to give some of Sanada's older brother's condoms to him!

"I'm downstairs!" he shouted as he heard Niou exit the bathroom.

"How do I look?" the Trickster asked, doing a ballerina twirl in front of Yukimura.

"… please don't do that."

"Okay" Niou smirked, and sat down on the sofa.

"You look great. It's really useful that we've got the same size, don't you think?"

"… can't I just borrow you tie?"

"Masaharu, can't you just shut up and sit still without doing anything rash?!"

"No need to use that tone buchou!"

Both of them sighed and simultaneously glared at the other. They hadn't even tried to start explaining this whole mess to the two other members of the tennis team coming over in a few minutes, and things were already starting to look bad.

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TO BE CONTINUED NEXT CHAPTER


	4. Chapter 4

**[Continuation of last chapter and also spoiler for next chapter of Poor little kouhai and my next stories [ **

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**---**

The only sound heard was a clock somewhere in the house, sounding _tic tock_. The only disturbance had been when Yukimura had gone to get them tea. It was dead boring so Niou decided to break the silence in the most polite way he could.

"So… where're your parents, buchou? Don't tell me you ate them!"

"My dad's working and my mum's visiting a relative again" Yukimura answered, while sipping on his tea. "And my little sister has gone over to a friend's house."

"You've really planned this out, eh?" the trickster grinned at his buchou, who resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Sort of, yeah" he said. "And I'm still trying to plan this all out in my head" so if you don't have anything important to say-"

"_Did you know fukubuchou took advantage of Marui last semester?_" Niou suddenly said.

Same effect as if you'd hit Yukimura in the head with a blunt instrument. His mouth fell open. Then he repeatedly shut it and opened it again, without any sound coming out.

_The doorbell rang_.

"I'll get it!" Niou said, and bounced up from the sofa. This was just as well, because Yukimura was unable to move in his current state.

"Welcome to our lovely home!" Niou said cheerfully as he opened the door. Yanagi and Sanada stared at him, both wearing a look of 'what's _he_ doing here?!'

And then the door suddenly slammed shut in front of their surprised faces by Yukimura. Who grabbed Niou by the collar and pulled him closer. _Too close…!_

"_What_ did you say?!" Yukimura hissed, ignoring the two boys still standing outside on his doorstep. The other boy could almost feel the warmth from his breath, touching his face as Yukimura spoke.

"I'm not lying! It happened while you were at the hospital! _Just ask fukubuchou!_" Niou exclaimed, feeling a slight discomfort at the lack of air and the closeness.

"That I shall" Yukimura said, letting go of Niou who took a deep breath.

Yukimura, ignoring his almost-strangled teammate, grabbed the door handle and opened the door yet again. "Renji, Genichirou" he said to his surprised friends. "Come on in. We've got a lot to talk about."

Somehow, they got the feeling they were walking into the lair of a monster.

---

---

"So" Sanada said, "you mean that you were _thumb-wrestling?_"

"That's right" Yukimura answered, smiling. "We were thumb-wrestling over who'd get to play as Singles2 and you just happened to misunderstand the situation. Niou wasn't jumping me at all!"

"Well, I sort of was" Niou admitted, earning him a glare from Yukimura. "But I only did that in order to win!" he quickly added.

"This explains a lot of things" Yanagi said, nodding wisely. Or, it didn't. But he welcomed _any_ explanation for the scene they'd walked into in the infirmary, no matter how bad it was! "We're sorry we ever doubted you Seiichi!"

"Yes, I don't even know _why_ the thought of you liking a punk like Niou ever crossed my mind in the first place!" Sanada said, as he grabbed Yukimura's hands.

"Hey!" Niou protested.

Yukimura just smiled._There is karma after all!_ He thought.

The atmosphere now seemed to ease up, and both Yanagi and Sanada seemed to relax themselves a little, sipping their tea and smiling.

"Well, although" Yukimura said, frowning. "I've got a question if you'll hear me out…"

"Yes Yukimura?" Sanada said.

"_Is it true you took advantage of Marui last semester while I was in the hospital?_"

And Sanada felt his perfect little world fall down around his ears. Bit. By. Bit.

---

"Genichirou? Can you hear me?" Yukimura said. "… is he even breathing?"

"I think he's just unconscious…" Yanagi, who was a little bit pale, stated. _Why, oh WHY did Seiichi have data that he hadn't?!_

"Cool, buchou. You're the first person I've met who can turn people into stone!" Niou said, and snickered. This was way fun! Maybe he should take advantage of the situation and doodle on Sanada's face?

Suddenly, Yukimura's phone rang. He quickly flipped it open, not even fumbling for a second in his search for the phone.

"Yes? Jackal, what's the matter? Where-"

"Doesn't sound good" Niou frowned. He quickly made his way to the front door and started to put on his shoes.

"As you heard, it was Jackal. And he told me that Akaya just came back with an unconscious Bunta! I'm going over there, Renji-"

"I've already put on my shoes" Niou drawled. Ready to go and kick their kouhai's ass, because he was quite sure just _whose_ fault it was Marui was unconscious.

"-Renji please take Genichirou home! Niou and I will go over to Bunta's house and see how he's doing." Yukimura's face showed how worried he was.

"I'll write your parents a note then" Yanagi said, a little disappointed he couldn't go with them. "Send me a text message when you get there will you?"

--

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When they came back to the Yukimura residence, it was already close to midnight and Yukimura's family was asleep. But at least Marui's condition was good and well again although Akaya had thrown a real tantrum when he realized Marui had snitched Doubles1 right from under his nose.

The two boys, being the healthy growing teenagers they were, raided the kitchen for food before dragging themselves up to Rikkai buchou's room.

"I suppose this means you'll be staying over" Yukimura said, yawning as he pulled out a spare futon.

"If it's not too much trouble" came the reply. Niou didn't even bother to change his clothes before laying down on the futon. And the two boys quickly drifted off to sleep.

--

--

When Niou woke up a couple of hours later, the room was bathing in sunlight. And the reason why he woke up came when he spotted his captain's leg outside the bed – on his own head!

Muttering to himself, Niou wobbled his way to the bathroom where he washed his face and brushed his teeth (with Yukimura's toothbrush).

"Niou Masaharu!" A series of banging on the bathroom door made him wince. "Niou it's frickin' seven o'clock and we've missed morning practice!" Yukimura's voice screamed over the banging.

"Relax buchou" Niou shouted. "I'm sure Yanagi took care of morning practice!" He took one last look in the mirror before unlocking and opening the door. "How do I look?"

"Stop asking stupid questions – and stop hogging the bathroom…!" Yukimura grumbled, apparently not a morning person judging by his half-closed eyes. "Use my sister's hairbrush before we go to school…"

"Oh yeah... D'ya think fukubuchou's turned back to flesh and blood by now?"

"I have no idea" Yukimura said, trying to stifle a yawn. "And I don't want to hear a word about this – I don't think we should talk about this until we've got all the facts."

--

**END OF FLASHBACK**

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**-**

And so, Niou arrived to school dressed in the same borrowed outfit he'd fallen asleep in.

"Why're you always assigning me laps whenever I mess with Marui-senpai?!" Kirihara shouted at Sanada. "That's no fair at all!" Their kouhai was standing at the school building's entrance, together with Jackal and Marui who tried to restrain him from doing _anything_ violent.

"Try to behave yourself in class today Kirihara-kun, Niou-kun" Yagyuu told them, before heading off into the building. Niou gave him a trademark grin in reply.

"Are you in love or what's the matter!?" Kirihara shouted, much to the embarrassment of Sanada.

Yukimura gave Niou the Look, and mouthed something that possible _could've_ meant_make him shut up!_ Or it he could have been exercising his jaw.

_Alright then_, Niou thought, still grinning._ If that was what buchou wanted…._

The Trickster made his way to their kouhai who was still shouting at their fukubuchou. By now Sanada's face color matched Marui's hair. And the self-proclaimed tensai too, was building up a tomato-red shade on his face.

"_Sanada and Marui, sitting in a tree F-U-C-_"

Kirihara didn't get to say the last bit because Niou had by now reached him. The trickster grabbed his struggling kouhai by the shirt and swooped down so that he caught the other boy's lips with his own.

The school yard had fallen dead silent and everyone's eyes were focused on the same two boys. Even Yukimura seemed shocked, and there was a faint trail of blood trailing down from Yanagi's nose.

Five seconds later, when Kirihara had recovered from his own initial shock, a roar deafening broke the silence.

"_NIOU-SENPAI__** I HATE YOU!!**_"

**FINI**


	5. Chapter 5

Hi everyone! I'm really sorry it took me so long to write!! But I hope you'll enjoy anyways!

----

As it was a perfectly beautiful and sunny day, and five middle school boys had decided to stop by at the ice cream parlor on their way home from school.

It was Yukimura's favorite ice cream parlor, because it was right next to the park. So nobody protested when he'd suggested the team would go, there since this was one of their rare days with no afternoon practice.

It was decided when he had said: "I never got to eat any ice cream while I was in the hospital". Even though he had been back a couple of months by now, everyone got a bit teary-eyed when they heard his words.

---

"Thanks Jackal!" Marui said, handing Kirihara the other ice cream while licking his own. Jackal sighed; he was running out of money to spend on those two.

"Now Akaya, put away your gameboy" Yukimura said. He absent-mindedly licked his own ice cream while patting Kirihara on the head.

"This is slacking off. Very tarundoru" Sanada muttered, but not loud enough for anyone to hear. He could be home by now, training or doing his homework or something equally useful.

"Did you say anything, Sanada?" Yukimura said, and wiggled an ice cream in front of his vice-captain. "Here! My treat" he added.

"Don't overdo yourself. You recently got out of the hospital" Sanada said and took a bite. Oh well, slacking off couldn't be a _very_ bad thing if Yukimura was doing it too, right? And he liked the park too.

"Hey! That stupid kouhai's trying to steal my ice cream again!" Marui exclaimed while trying to fend off Kirihara's prying hands.

"Aw Marui-senpai! C'mon, I already finished mine!"

"NO! Akaya, get away" Marui protested, as he hid behind Jackal. "You already finished yours- AHH!!"

Kirihara had leaped forward in an attempt to catch Marui off-guard, but was stopped in mid-air before he could do any damage.

"That's enough Akaya!" Sanada said. He had grabbed the second year by the shirt collar. "I'll buy you another one if you leave your senpai's ice cream alone." With those words, he dragged Kirihara away from the others.

Yukimura chuckled. Then, something caught his eye. A couple in Rikkai's school uniforms were walking by about ten meters into the park.

"Ah… Marui" he said. "Didn't Niou say he had to buy a screwdriver and therefore couldn't join us today?"

"Yeah… think he said so." Pop. "Why?"

Yukimura pointed towards the couple walking in the green park, surrounded by flowers.

"Eeeh?! Isn't that Yagyuu?!" Marui exclaimed. _With a girl no less!_

"No, it's Niou" Yukimura protested.

"Are you sure?" Jackal said. "It looks like Yagyuu though. You think they've switched places again?"

"Hehe. Maybe Niou's trying to steal Yagyuu's date" Marui snickered.

"Or his fanclub" Jackal added.

"That would actually make sense" Yukimura said, frowning. "Since no girl in her right mind would go on a date with Niou, I mean."

"…" Jackal busied himself with his ice cream.

"…buchou I was _joking!_" Marui said, grabbing their bags. "H-hey! Where you going?!"

"Let's spy on them" Yukimura said, as he slowly walked towards the park. "I want to know why Niou ditched us for that _girl_."

--00--

"Buchou let's go back" Marui begged. He was standing on all four behind a bush and he had just felt _something_ crawl up his leg.

Yukimura, who was sitting beside him, signed for him to be quiet. Marui groaned silently.

Niou and the girl were sitting on a park bench a couple of meters away, watching some birds in a pond. The mood was very romantic actually, and the girl laughed at something Niou/Yagyuu said.

"Maybe we should go back" Jackal whispered. He had managed to squat in something that felt very much like mud. "We left Sanada and Kirihara behind."

"At least _do_ something" Marui hissed at Yukimura. "Let's expose Niou's trickery to that girl!" Yeah, something was _definitely _crawling up his leg!

"Really, Yagyuu-senpai?" the said girl giggled. "Wow, I didn't know that!"

Jackal and Marui groaned behind the bushes.

"Oh! I have to go home now, or my mum will worry!" the girl suddenly said. Marui and Jackal eyed each other; what kind of girl was worried of getting home_too_ _late_ at 5:10 in the afternoon?

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Niou/Yagyuu offered, being the gentleman he supposedly was. Yukimura almost face palmed.

"No, it's alright" the girl said, gathering her bag before eyeing Niou/Yagyuu expectantly. Silence filled the park, only interrupted by the chirps from the birds at the pond.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Niou/Yagyuu said.

"Give me a kiss, Yagyuu-senpai!"

"A kiss?!" Marui whispered, staring at Yukimura. "Buchou, now you've_ got_ to do something!"

"_Kiss?!_" Yukimura hissed in a very cat-like way, and Jackal instantly felt like putting a few extra meters between the two of them.

"_A_ _KISS?!_" Niou/Yagyuu exclaimed, looking aghast. "Eh… uh, but _why?_"

"Don't you like me, senpai?" the girl said, her lower lip quivering.

"_Of course_ I do!" Niou/Yagyuu protested. "But I uh-" _I hate kissing girls who wears lip gloss!_ "…I've never kissed a girl before."

"Wha?" the girl gasped. "Are you serious?!"

"Do you honestly think I'm the kind of person who would joke about something like that?" Niou/Yagyuu said, giving the girl a hurt look.

"No, no! Of course not!" the girl said. Then she gave him a smug look between thick eye lashes. "But senpai… is it really OK? If I… you know?"

"It's OK" Niou/Yagyuu said, smiling. "I've wanted this ever since I first met you." _Yes! Strike-o!!_

"Close your eyes" the girl said, pulling at his tie. "And bend down a little."

Marui groaned, and shut his eyes. _I can't watch this!_

"…Yagyuu-senpai" the girl said after a moment or two. "But you don't smoke, do you? I thought I felt-"

"Thank you, I thought I felt you were very good too" Niou/Yagyuu answered, flashing a disarming grin. The girl giggled.

"**NIOU!**" Yukimura roared, standing upright. "You _SMOKE?!!_"

"Buchou! Get back down here!" Jackal said, a little too late.

"AARGH! There's a** SNAIL** in my pants!!" Marui shrieked, jumping out of the bushes. "_GET OFF MY TENSAI!!_"

The girl stared at Niou for about a second, opening and closing her mouth several times. Finally, she hit him in the face with her bag, and then left.

--00--

As soon as they had saved Marui from the snail, things calmed down a little. The four boys were sitting on the bench, since Yukimura had declared that he was feeling a bit tired.

And Niou had actually taken the hit quite well, considering the girl had carried a lot of heavy books in her bag. And he hadn't seemed all that surprised at finding his teammates spying on him in the park.

When they'd sat down, Niou had told them that Yagyuu accidentally had given the girl a one-date promise but something had urgently come up.

For whatever the reason, Yagyuu had been afraid that his reputation would take a hit if he ditched the girl on such a short notice. So then, Yagyuu had asked Niou for help. And being the good boy he was, Niou had saved Yagyuu's ass, as he so modestly expressed it.

"Except for the part when she found out I wasn't Yagyuu" Niou added, shooting Yukimura a glace. "That wasn't really part of the plan."

"Twenty laps" Yukimura grunted. Niou almost fell off the bench.

"_What?!_ You can't be serious! What for?!"

"For smoking!" Yukimura said, giving him The Look. "That's not very considerate of you, since we're a team and all. You're a _member_ of the team, and therefore your smoking habits also affect the whole team. We are weakened as we are already!"

"That's just bullshit" Niou protested, making Yukimura quirk an eyebrow. "And I just took one because I was nervous for the date! It helped me relax, that's all. Why'd you follow me anyway?"

Marui and Jackal looked at Yukimura. His face turned slight more red when he answered.

"…I thought you tried to steal Yagyuu's date" he admitted, but he still looked Niou in the eyes.

"You thought I was doing _what?!_" Niou shouted, getting equally red in the face.

"Let's go back" Jackal muttered, nudging Marui. Neither Yukimura nor Niou seemed to notice they went back.

"I'm hurt!" Niou said, frowning. "You seriously thought I was trying to steal someone else's date? _Yagyuu's _date?"

"I apologize. I'm really sorry and I don't know why I-"

"Well, you should be!" Niou exclaimed, standing up. "I ain't gonna do those laps assigned to me by a buchou who thinks I'm as low as that."

"You're going to do those laps when we get back to school" Yukimura said in a low voice. "Because that wasn't the only time you've taken a smoke."

"I'll do them tomorrow" Niou said, shrugging. "But only if you apologize to Yagyuu _and_ tell him why that girl's gonna have a fit tomorrow. We have a deal?"

"…Alright."

"Good" Niou, said, reaching out his hand towards Yukimura. "Cuz that was really the only thing I didn't want to do. Now let's go eat some ice cream."

Niou simply bent down and lifted Yukimura up, despite the other's protests.

"NIOU! What the hell are you doing?! _Let me down!_" Yukimura exclaimed, kicking and hitting the trickster with all his might.

"I'm trying to get us to the ice cream!" Niou said, wincing. "Stop acting like a girl, you can hardly walk in your state anyway!"

Despite having been locked up in the hospital for several months, Yukimura actually did quite well. At least he managed to kick Niou in the groin, making the other double over by reflex. Both boys fell screaming to the ground in a heap.

"That was a really girly shout, buchou" Niou commented, gasping as he tried to breath. "And you've lost weight too! You eat too little!"

"Shut up" Yukimura groaned, trying to move. "I think I've got your hipbone in the stomach!"

"Uh… I really don't wanna break it to you like this but… that's not my _hipbone_."

"It's _not_ your hipbone!? I-"

Then, Yukimura fell silent. They could hear footsteps getting closer, mixed with their kouhai's shouts of "BUCHOU! Buchoubuchoubuchou!!!"

"…get up Niou" Yukimura said, getting the feeling of impending doom. "Get away from me. NOW!"

"_Shit_" Niou groaned. "Not again…!"

"OH MY GOD!_Niou-senpai what're you_ _doing with Yukimura-buchou??!_"

**THE END (for this time)**


	6. Chapter 6

Hi guys! Author eunjus2 here. Thanks for all your reviews and such, they've made me really happy! This one'll be a long one, but please bear with it!

--00--

"I'm sorry" Niou repeated. Sanada, who sat behind a desk opposite the trickster, still didn't look satisfied. "I'm really, really sorry fukubuchou – but it was an _accident!_"

"I honestly don't know what to say" Sanada grumbled. "It's not the first time this happens Niou. And this time Akaya saw it!" Yes, their precious kouhai had _seen_ Niou on top of Yukimura.

"Hey! I didn't fall on purpose" the other boy protested. "Buchou kicked me in the_ groin! _Even Jackal would fall over if buchou kicked him in his-"

"You may leave" Sanada interrupted, turning his attention to the stack of papers on the desk in front of him. "I've got some paperwork to finish."

"Uh… so we're done?" the trickster said, sounding hopeful. The room smelled of sweaty clothes and different types of shampoos, not a very nice place to be in a beautiful summer day.

"_Get out, Niou!_"

The sound of a chair scraping against the floor was heard, and then Niou emerged in the door opening. Yukimura was waiting for him outside, leaning against a nearby tree.

"Ah! Bucho!" Niou said, waving at the other boy. "What're you doing here? School's finished already right?"

"I was waiting for Sanada finish, that's all" Yukimura said, smiling. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened."

"OK. Is it alright if I take a smoke while you're talking?"

"_That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about!_"

"Eeek!" Niou almost dropped his lighter in surprise. "Take it easy!" Geez, don't raise your voice like that!"

"As long as you're a member of this team, you will not be allowed to smoke" Yukimura said, glaring at him. "I won't allow it. For the sake of our third consecutive win in the Nationals, I will not allow anything that might be a hindrance for us. Either you're with us or…"

--00--

Niou lay on his bed, holding a pack of cigarettes in his hand.

The day they had told Yukimura about their loss at the Kantou finals… the whole team had been there, waiting outside buchou's hospital room when Sanada had given the news. And Yukimura had become furious.

"_Why don't you just go home already-!!_"

His voice that time was stuck in Niou's brain, as was the agonized scream that had followed when Sanada left the room. At first he'd thought Yukimura's anger came from the fact that they had lost.

But now, Niou wasn't sure if that'd been the case… or if it had been the fact that they were talking tennis to him, when he had told them not to. Yukimura had by that time just undergone a surgery, not even starting rehabilitation and yet they were already talking about tennis in front of him. Or maybe it was both.

"Maybe I'm getting tennisexual like him" Niou muttered, as he threw the pack into his trash bin. Then, he grabbed his phone, about to dial Yagyuu's number. He'd need something to occupy his mind with now that he'd quit smoking.

The phone rang, and Niou took the call by reflex.

"Hello" he squealed, before clearing his throat. "Ehm, Yagyuu. What's up? I was just about to call you." Damn puberty and that lingering, embarrassing voice.

"I was wondering if I could come over, Niou-kun" Yagyuu said on the other end of the line. "We could eat something and then go through tomorrow's homework" he offered when the other boy hesitated a moment.

"Yeah sure, come over" Niou answered, sounding indifferent. "You could help me get rid of the tension in my back." The one he'd got during a game of American football at P.E class. It was technically Yagyuu's fault since he was in fukubuchou's class and it had been Sanada who had tackled Niou _and_ Marui to the ground.

--00--

School was over since a while ago, and he should be home tending to his plants instead of being here. But this was the only right thing to do. Yukimura sighed, but still pushed the doorbell. He was standing outside of the Niou residence, seemingly to explain (not apologize) why he had scolded the trickster earlier that day. And he also wanted to see if Niou indeed had given up his smoking habit.

No one opened the door, which made Yukimura a bit curious – after all, Niou had gone straight home from school. Maybe he was asleep? And now Yukimura did something he normally didn't, since he was a nice and fairly well-behaved boy (off the courts). He experimentally pressed the door's handle. The door was unlocked… and then he silently opened the door and slipped inside. But he did lock the door from the inside.

"Um. Hello?" he said to the empty house. Not even Niou's siblings seemed to be at home yet, luckily since Yukimura would've found it hard to be in the same house as Niou's older sister. The girl could make Sanada stammer rubbish by just being in the same room as him. The first time she met Yukimura, she had eyed him from top to toe with a little smile playing in the corner of her mouth. And then the she-devil had said: _Oh my, looks like Haru found himself a flat-chested one this time eh?_

And suddenly Akaya's ranting about Niou's sister being a 'female Niou-senpai bitch' hadn't seemed so farfetched after all. Yukimura'd had to clench his fists and bite his tongue to prevent himself from either burst into tears or hitting her. Just by thinking of it still made his blood boil, and he didn't dare to think of what things she would've said if she had known his true gender.

"Don't be so rough Hiroshi!" Niou's voice was suddenly heard from upstairs. "I'm in a really awkward position here y'know."

"Stop whining Niou-kun" Yagyuu said, and Yukimura frowned. "This wouldn't hurt if you would just relax yourself for me!"

"But I feel like a girl" Niou complained. "I don't wanna be bottom!" (_Yukimura almost choked on his own spit when he heard Niou say that_)

"We'll switch as soon as I'm finished" Yagyuu assured. A series of muffled moans were heard, and then a sudden scream of pain which made Yukimura wince. He hesitated a moment before making his way towards Niou's bedroom.

"Holy fuck! Yagyuu, what the hell did you do?!" Niou gasped, grabbing the spot Yagyuu had recently kneaded and somehow turning onto his side. "I seriously think you broke something in my shoulder dammit!"

"I'm sorry. But your back doesn't still hurt, right Niou-kun?"

"No- no it feels great actually. You're pretty good at this massage thing" the trickster said, flashing a grin at his doubles partner. "Alright, let's switch places! Show me what to do Hiroshi."

Yukimura, who was standing in the door opening, stared at the two regulars. Niou was only wearing his pants, and was lying on the bed with Yagyuu straddling him; what made the scene looking more suspicious was the fact that the gentleman was holding a bottle of what _looked_ like lube.

"I… Uh. This is one of those misunderstandings you're so good at, right?" the buchou of Rikkai said, sounding hopeful.

"I was just helping Niou-kun release some tension" Yagyuu explained, pushing his glasses up a little.

"I can see that" Yukimura said, staring at Niou's non-existent shirt and then at the bottle in Yagyuu's hand.

"In my back, the tension in my _back_" Niou explained. "My back's been hurting – must have been all the buchou-carrying I've been doing lately" he added. Not to mention the combined weight of both Sanada and Marui falling on top of him during P.E class.

"So it's not… um." Yukimura searched for the right word and felt his face becoming redder by the second.

"We're not about to fuck" Niou said, trying to be helpful. And failing horribly, since Yukimura's face suddenly boosted into a crimson red color.

"I will be going now" Yagyuu said. He threw Niou the bottle of massage oil and said: "It's up to you now, Niou-kun" before leaving the room, not giving Niou time to answer. Yukimura heard the door close behind him.

"…you wanna sit down?" Niou said after a couple of moments in complete silence. He nervously fingered the bottle, before putting it on the windowsill beside the bed.

"Yeah, I'd like to do that." Yukimura sat down beside him on the edge of the bed. Niou, on the other hand, had shuffled up and was leaning back against the wall.

"Before you start yelling at me for some reason, I just want to say that I quit smoking so I'll be staying on the team" Niou said, staring at the air in front of him.

"I wasn't going to yell" Yukimura said, suddenly feeling relieved.

"Well, there _was_ a 26 percent chance that you would've done it later if I hadn't said that first."

"You're creepy when-"

"-creepier" the trickster corrected him.

"And I thought I would... apologize for my behavior earlier today." There. He had said it.

"That was really unexpected. I mean, really, really unexpected" Niou muttered. "I mean, it's not as if you've done something to-"

"Now I know you're being sarcastic."

"Puri." But none the less, Niou gave him a smile. Not one of his lopsided grins but a genuine one that reached his eyes.

--00--

When Niou's mother came home a couple of hours later, she could hear the sounds of the two boys playing TV- games upstairs. She recognized the shoes in the hallway – they belonged to that sweet Yukimura boy. It was nice to know that her son, despite his own behavior, at least had managed to make friends with two nice boys: Yukimura and Yagyuu. The tennis team seemed good for him in that way.

Then, she happened to look towards her son's bedroom door. Outside of it, four boys were sitting or halfway standing, resting their ears towards the door. And four tennis bags were dropped in a corner in the living room.

"They're still playing TV-games?!" a pink haired boy wheezed. "_Geez Niou!_"

"Iiii data" another boy muttered.

"Marui-senpai, Yanagi-senpai… I wanna go home. My back's killing me."

"Tarundouru" the fourth one muttered, and smacked the youngest boy over the head. "If we leave now, they might start doing something immoral!" He _was _a member of the public moral's committee after all.

"Ahem. Boys?" Niou's mum said. Four pair of eyes stared at her. "Would you like some ice cream?" She didn't really care if they ruined their appetite, but she did wonder how on earth they had gotten into her house without a key. Maybe she could wriggle it out of them while they were eating ice cream?

"_Yes ma'm!_" the two shortest boys said, and hurdled themselves down the stairs. The other two looked at each other.

"Tarundouru" the capped boy said, but they followed the other two downstairs and into the kitchen. Niou's mother smiled at them and proceeded to set the table.

As the team members were eating the best they could, the front door opened. And Niou's sister stepped inside. The boys immediately fell silent, horrified.

"Muuum! Someone's picked the lock to the porch open and smashed your favorite gnome in the garden!" the girl said as she pulled off her shoes. Then she looked the four boys at the table. Very much like a predator eyeing its prey.

"Hello there" she said, tossing her hair with a hand in a casual way.

"H-hello" Marui and Kirihara said, fidgeting nervously. They had suddenly realized that Niou's mum had gone outside to the garden to look after her garden gnome. Then hell broke loose.

--00--

"What's the ruckus downstairs?" Niou said. Some screaming and yelling was drowning the sound from the TV.

"Maybe we should have a look" Yukimura suggested, and got to his feet.

Marui and Kirihara were sitting on top of the closets in the living room, clutching their plates with ice cream and looking utterly traumatized. And if beetroots knew how to blush, that would be close to Sanada's face color as he was standing beside Yanagi, staring intensely at a spot on the floor.

Niou's sister was eyeing the data master with amusement in her eyes. Yanagi on the other hand looked about as amused as a rat trapped in a rat trap. He felt as if Niou's mum had set the trap and they had waltzed right into it.

"What… the-" Niou said when he saw his teammates and his sister in the living room. "You btch!" he exclaimed, and pointed at her. "What did you do to my teammates?!"

"Well if it isn't my little brother and his pretty, _pretty_ girlfriend. Grown any sizes since last time honey?"

"_Answer me!_" Niou screamed. Yukimura on the other hand blushed, and resisted the urge to cover his chest.

"I was just showing the boys my new tattoo" Niou's sister said, winking at Marui and Kirihara.

"You had _another one?_" Niou looked almost speechless. "Where?" He blurted out.

"Here" she said, as she reached up to undo the buttons of her shirt but both Marui and Kirihara scream so loudly that she stopped.

"Have you no shame?!" Niou wheezed with strained voice. "Stop showing your- your _chest_ to my team mates! Think about the bratling dammit!"

"You're no fun Masaharu. I bet they liked what they saw. Right Sanada fu-ku-bu-chou?" she said, putting weight on every last syllable. Sanada refused to look at her, still staring onto the floor as if his life depended on it.

"Alright, that's it! You're getting out of here you slut" Niou growled, grabbing his sister's arm and shoving her towards the front door.

"You're one to talk!" she yelled, as she was dragged away. "You slutty little wh-" the rest of her speech was drowned in Niou's shouting and then completely shut out as Niou forcefully threw her out.

"Sorry about that" he said when he had closed the door and locked it shut. Although he didn't look like he regretted it at all. Marui and Kirihara simply nodded from where they sat on the closets, having forgotten about the ice cream melting on their plates.

"So, uh, why're you here again?" he said. Sanada's face color hade almost returned to normal by now.

"Tennis of course" Yanagi answered. "We were wondering if you and Yukimura would like to play some tennis with us." What a lie. But they had brought their tennis gear.

"Tennis?" Yukimura said, lightening up exceptionally. "Yes, of course! Tennis, right. I'll go get my tennis gear." He returned into Niou's room, absentmindedly feeling his chest. _Flat_ he thought, gritting his teeth as he grabbed his tennis bag.

"Let's go through the back way" Niou said, urging the other boys towards the porch, tennis bag slung over his shoulder. "So we don't run into _her_ again."

"Sorry for breaking your gnome, Mrs. Niou" Marui said as they passed Niou's mum on their way. He bowed slightly.

"And sorry for intruding and eating ice cream" Kirihara said, also bowing.

"Akaya" Yanagi reprimanded him.

"…and for breaking into your house" the youngest one added hastily, before running to catch up with his senpais.

"Oh no, not at all" Niou's mum shouted after them. "Now you go have fun!"

"Thanks mum. We'll go practice for Nationals then. See ya! _Bakaya!_ Let go of my ponytail dammit!"

"_You-!_"

"AAH! Akaya's gone into red-eye mode! _Someone save my tensai!_"

"Niou! Akaya! Fifteen laps when we get to the courts!"

Such nice boys, Niou's mum thought. Yes, Masaharu was lucky to have such good friends.

FINI


End file.
